Friday, November 8, 2013

Video: Top Twenty Planner Tips And Tricks

I am a cheating cheater. (Plus, we've already established that I confess to every small offense, so here goes.) Today's You Tube video (click HERE to watch it) is a rerun. Well, sort of a rerun. In it, I go over 20 planner hacks that make using my planner more efficient.

The cheater part? Well, I've mentioned these tips and tricks before in old posts. Basically, I'm a total copy cat. But it's not plagiarism if it's my idea, right? I'll spare you the hyperlinks, but go ahead and read old posts, especially from July 2013 on, in order to find details about most of these suggestions.

Here's a photo that I've used before for your viewing pleasure. (Also, because if I am going to be a cheating cheater, I might as well recycle an old photo for the sake of consistency.)

Giftie Etcetera's Top Twenty Planner Hacks:

1. Use the outside edge of the inner pockets of your planner to hold your ink pens.

2. Use erasable ink. (There is a link to the right where you can purchase Frixion pens.) If it disappears in heat, pop it in the freezer to bring it right back.

3. Use two main colors - a writing color and a highlighting color.

4. Use the inside pockets. They are the main advantage of a binder style paper planner.

5. Keep a blank dashboard, preferably of graph paper, on the first page of the planner.6. No need for fancy tools. Cut pages with a pair of scissors and punch holes with a single hole punch.7. Make an index for your active projects and inactive notes.8. Draw a small monthly calendar on graph paper to track goals.

9. Use the graph paper to make charts for tracking things like chores.10. Put washi tape on the blank days at the beginning and end of your monthly pages.11. Cross out old entries.12. Keep appointments separate from tasks.

13. Doodle, but only doodle on past entries.14. Track other's stuff on your weekly pages, but in a separate area.15. Write down due dates.16. Use columns on your weekly pages to sort by priority (due, must do today, and should do today) and codes to sort by context (E for errands, C for at computer, and so on).17. Use a future page to jot things coming up after your calendar ends.18. Use magnetic bookmarks (available on Amazon) to find important pages.19. Have a locations page so that your turkey pan or Christmas wrapping paper is hidden away, but you can still find it.20. Use decorative post-its instead of a traditional notepad.